He needs to sit down. All he can do stand there and stare at her. He tries to think of the best way to proceed when she asks him if he has some time. He nods and tells her he has all the time in the world, and after a moment atau two, Elsbet begins to speak as a single tear slides down her cheek.

"My parents were First-Generation Americans. My father's father was Scottish, Welsh and German, his mother was Dutch. He was a little man in stature, but he was a very big man at heart. He was a very gifted wood worker; he used timber from trees that died naturally and gave it new life." She sniffles,...

As they enter the tiny bedroom Snape thinks about what Therion berkata about the houses being accomodating...he closes his eyes and breathes deeply, then whispers, "be what we need." The walls seem to ripple as the room expands a foot, two feet, then three; sconces emerge from the walls, lightly-scented candles form upon them and light. The katil expands to accomodate the three Kekasih comfortably, and becomes a work of erotic art; posts rise up at each corner of the katil and Kekasih of varying races cavort with each other in a myriad of sexual positions. Intrigued, Malfoy watches one of the posts...

"Severus," the Elder Mother reaches out to him as he approaches; she is so very glad to see him. She sits on a special perch, one that gives her a view of most of the Garden, and when he comes to stand before her, she looks down into his face as though she were much taller than him.

Of all the Silhouettes, she is the one he loves the most.

She is not only the oldest of them in the White City, she is one of the greatest healers in their collective memory. To her people she is Elder Mother; to those who seek her out, she is Bezoar. He just calls her Bea. He never had a relationship with his grandparents;...

The funny thing about Silhouettes, telah diberi the fact that they prefer telepathic communication, are their names. atau rather, the names they choose for themselves to make interacting with non-telepathic folk much easier. Among Snape's Kegemaran are Bell, Book and Candle, two females and a male, who form a Union of three and were the first Silhouettes he met. That their chosen names are often light-hearted, even whimsical, makes it even easier for Muggles to interact with them. The two facing Snape now are quite popular with the non-telepathic residents of the White City.

Dance and Sing.

A mated pair,...

They walk in silence for quite a while, glancing at each other from time to time, as if each is trying to guess what the other is thinking. This would be funny (maybe even a little romantic) any other time...but they both know the dangers that lay ahead.

Finally, they come to a quiet little pond, and Snape guides Malfoy to a stone bench concealed sejak bushes close by. "She loves it here," Snape says as he sits down, and Malfoy kneels at the pond's edge. Gingerly, he dips just the tips of his fingers in the cool, clear water, and looks up. "This is natural, not Magic-made," he whispers and Snape...

It is as if all of Creation has drawn and held its collective breath.

Snape can only sit and gaze up at Malfoy completely dumbstruck. Malfoy closes his eyes and lowers his head, and as the light of that small slice of moon catches his platnum-colored hair, Snape thinks the older wizard suddenly looks much younger than himself. soalan fill his head and demand to be asked, but he can't muster the will to pose even one.

"I've loved anda for a very long time," Malfoy says quietly, "but I thought I would never have the chance to tell you. I thougth I would just...die with this still in my heart,...

"You see, Lucius? I will kill to protect her," Snape says evenly, then turns and heads toward his preferred Apparation point. Malfoy stands there looking at the door, a million soalan making his head pound, desperately struggling to find the solution to the crisis he feels rising within him. "Severus," he follows quickly, thinking the younger wizard means to leave. "What..." Malfoy tries to choose his words carefully, "what is she to you? I just...I can't..." he glances back at the little house, then back at Snape, floundering. "Make me understand...I need to know what's going on!" Snape...